Tribulation
by Smenzer
Summary: Elizabeth Midford searches for the perfect Valentine's Day gift for Ciel and meets Cyrano Jones. He sells her tribbles. What will Ciel do with a manor full of tribbles? Oneshot.


Tribulation

Disclaimer: the characters are not mine.

Pairing: Ciel/Elizabeth

Note: This is a crossover between Classic Star Trek and Kuroshitsuji, a weird combination I know. Anyway I got this idea so here it is. The story is post "The Trouble with Tribbles" and after the Drocell storyline in the anime where Elizabeth was almost turned into a doll.

Cyrano Jones was at ease almost everywhere he went. He allowed trouble to slide off of his back like water off of an umbrella. That didn't mean he was happy all of the time, no. There had been that annoying Starfleet Captain that had insisted he clean up every single tribble on Space Station K7. Really, who did Captain Kirk think he was? That took ages to do! And just when he had gotten finished some angry klingons had started to chase him, screaming at him in that guttural tongue of theirs. He had no idea what they were saying, but the word 'tribble' had been repeated multiple times. And so he had fled towards Earth, the klingon destroyer hot on his tail all of the way. Laser blasts had zipped by his ship, many just missing him by a hair. He had hoped the big starships there would save him, but they were all in the bay of the space station.

And so in desperation he had fled towards the sun, towards Sol.

Something funny had happened then. Time seemed to stretch out in the most bizarre way. He had seen strange images as well, the images as clear as day and floating before his startled eyes. He saw Earth as it had been in the distant past with dirty streets and wagons pulled by horses. He also saw a blonde girl with her hair in two ponytails. Who she was he had no idea as he had never seen her before.

The bizarre visions had ended then and he found his ship crashing onto Earth. It crashed down in the water, the power drained. He grabbed his cargo and managed to get out. The water was cold but shore was in sight. He crawled out onto the beach with utter relief of being safe on dry land. He headed inland then and almost instantly realized something was wrong, seriously wrong.

He was in 1888 instead of the twenty-third century!

This mattered little to Cyrano though and he quickly started to sell his unique wares of tribbles, flame jems, gleaming glow water and the other unique treasures from the thousand worlds he had visited.

And to his utter surprise he soon met the little blonde girl from his vision, one Elizabeth Midford. She came into his shop one day looking for a Valentine's Day gift for her betrothed, Ciel.

"Oh, I'll never find the right gift for Ciel!" Elizabeth moaned to her maid, Paula, as she stepped into his shop. They had already visited over two dozen shops in London and none had possessed anything suitable. "You recall how hard it was to find him something for his birthday? Everything is so ordinary and he needs something unique, something special!"

"Don't give up hope, my lady! You'll find something! There are all sorts of lovely things…" Paula told her with a smile. The maid was dressed in her warmest cloak as although it was February it was still bitter cold out and the Thames was still frozen solid. It was unheard of really, but it was proving to be one of England's worst winters on record. Her hood was up and her brown hair hung over her shoulders.

"Yes, lovely but _ordinary_!" Elizabeth huffed unhappily as she paused within this newest shop to look around. She pushed her fur-trimmed hood off of her head so her two blonde ponytails stuck out, a pink headband in her hair. Under her white cloak the bottom edge of her pink dress was just visible. "Ciel needs something that will make him smile! He used to have such a wonderful smile but now it's gone. He's always so glum and gloomy!"

"Welcome to my shop!" Cyrano called happily to the two young girls. A wide and welcoming grin was on his plump face, a face that sported double chins. Cyrano was very portly, his middle incredibly wide. He had brown hair that was cut short but pushed to the side and that partly covered his forehead. His eyes were a clear blue and happiness sparkled in them. He wore a light green brocaded tunic with a striped shirt under it, a dark brown leather belt around his waist. "If you want the unique, you've come to the right place!"

"Really?" Elizabeth gazed up at him with hopeful green eyes. Many shop keepers had told her the same and they had showed her boring things such as clocks or pottery, toys and figurines…none of it had been good enough. "What do you have?"

Cyrano's grin spread wider and he reached under the counter. Then his hand emerged holding a small round ball of fur. Even better was the fact it had light _pink_ fur. "How about a tribble? I assure you no one else has one yet!"

"Oooooh!" Elizabeth cried as she eagerly reached for the living ball of pink fur. She held it in her arms and to her delight it started to purr. "Where did you ever get it?"

"From a faraway place, my dear." Cyrano said without really answering the question. He couldn't tell her of Starfleet, spaceships and alien planets as she just wouldn't understand. Seeing that she was interested in his wares, he pulled out a few more tribbles and set them on the wooden counter. The furry round creatures slowly moved across the surface at a turtle's pace. "Tribbles are nature's most peaceful animal. They bring smiles to young and old alike. Best of all, they can never bite as they have no teeth!"

Elizabeth quickly snatched up more tribbles. "These are just perfect! Ciel will love them, I just know he will! What he needs is a pet, a proper pet and not that horrid dog he adopted! He can't have a cat because he's allergic but these will do nicely!"

"Ooh, they're lovely!" Paula quickly agreed as she held one of the tribbles, stroking its soft fur.

Elizabeth quickly bought the tribbles and left happy. Cyrano Jones, of course, had held a few in reserve. He gave them more food and quickly his tribble container was overflowing once more.

000

"What is it?" Ciel asked as he held the pink tribble that Elizabeth had given him for Valentine's Day. It was round and furry but was clearly alive. It had no head, no eyes, no mouth or ears, no legs or tail or anything else for that matter. It was just a round ball of fur yet it could walk somehow across his lap and make a purring sound. "I never saw one before…"

"It's a tribble!" Elizabeth exclaimed happily as she pulled more tribbles out of her bag. "A tribble is the perfect pet! It will make you happy, Ciel! Look how cute it is!"

"Well, I… I guess it's cute…" Ciel stared at the round ball of pink fur feeling confused. He didn't understand how it could possibly be alive, yet clearly it was somehow.

"Well of course it is!" She exclaimed in a firm voice that demanded he agree with her. Then her large green eyes took on a sad look. "Are you not happy with it, Ciel?"

Sensing she might cry if he didn't agree, he quickly put a smile on his face. "Of course I'm happy, Lizzy. It's the best gift I've ever received."

"Really?" She asked as she hoped it was true. She then threw herself at him, hugging him tightly. "I'm so glad! I tried very hard to find the perfect gift for you!"

Sebastian was given a black tribble as Elizabeth knew he loved black and each servant received one too. They all quickly thanked her, amazed at her generosity.

"I want everyone to be happy! If we all smile happily then Ciel will be happy, too!"

Ciel danced with her around the floor as Sebastian played music on the violin. They then had a fine meal and Ciel presented her with fine chocolate as well as a lovely piece of jewelry. She gushed over it, proclaiming it was just what she had wanted. The day ended then and she went home in the carriage.

The young earl stifled a yawn as it was very late now and he had had a very busy day. He carried the pink tribble up to his bedroom and set it on his bed. It did seem to be a pleasant pet, quiet and peaceful. The purring it made was soft and it didn't bother him. Sebastian got him ready for bed and soon he was tucked under the blanket as snow fell outside. A Funtom chocolate bar sat on his dresser as well as a glass of water. But Ciel wasn't thinking about the sweet candy at all; he was worn out from entertaining Lady Midford.

And so he drifted off to sleep.

Ciel awoke several hours later, sweating like a pig. For unknown reasons it seemed like it was ninety degrees in his bedroom. He gasped for air and tried to push the blanket off of himself but it seemed incredibly heavy. He opened his eyes wearily, his face wet and somewhat greasy from sweating. The snow had stopped falling outside and pale silvery moonlight shone in through the tall and stately windows in his room. He sleepily peered at his blanket and saw fur instead. There were tribbles on top of him, a great pile of tribbles! Where they had all come from he had no idea but their fuzzy weight was roasting him to death! "Sebastian!"

The demon appeared a short time later, his startled red eyes taking in the problem. "I am afraid, Bocchan, they are all over the manor…"

"What? How?" Ciel asked as his butler pulled tribble after tribble off of him. Finally he could sit up and toss the blanket aside. When he swung his bare feet over the side of the bed, he was startled to see that his bedroom floor was covered with countless tribbles! They came in many colors as well as sizes. Some appeared to be extra large while others were smaller. "But Elizabeth only gave me one! Where did these others come from?"

"I am uncertain, Bocchan. They seem to have multiplied incredibly fast." Sebastian frowned as he picked a tribble up, examining it. "I have never seen or heard of these creatures. They possess a strange vibe to them, as if they are from some far away exotic place."

With great difficulty, Ciel followed Sebastian out of his bedroom only to find the hall filled with them as well as the other rooms. Tribbles climbed up the walls, clinging there by unknown means. Others were sitting on chairs or strolled along the polished wooden banister. And if he accidentally stepped on one, it made a loud squawk of protest.

"But they are just round balls of fur!" Ciel protested as he looked upon the disaster his manor now was. "How can they even be alive?"

"I have no idea…" The demon admitted as a strange feeling grew in his gut, a suspicion. He hurried to the food stores as quickly as he could and to his dismay the entire room was packed to the ceiling with tribbles! When he opened the door the furry bodies came pouring out like an avalanche. Sebastian was left chest deep in tribbles. "They have eaten all of the food…"

Ciel sighed wearily. "Clean all of these things up!"

"But what shall I do with them? If they find food again I fear they will multiply somewhere else and then London will be buried under these furry things…"

The young Earl stood there in his bare feet, thinking. Tribbles were furry and multiplied fast. Within hours he could have hundreds of thousands of them. They had no practical use or did they? He thought of the bitter weather they were having, the unusual ice and snow. People were cold and freezing, even the nobles in their fine warm cloaks.

"Make coats and cloaks out of them, fine hats and mufflers. With this dreadful weather people will snatch them up in a heartbeat. We'll make a fortune." Ciel did smile then, a real smile. He loves making money and discovering new products, especially if they sold well. Maybe he could even use the fur to make special toys? Fur usually was rare and expensive as animals grew slow and were in a limited supply, but his costumers were not required to know about these tribbles fast breeding rate. They even came in unusual hues like pink naturally. And wasn't fur used for making felt? Yes, it was.

It was a fine Valentine's Day indeed.


End file.
